Body-rest for musical instruments.



J. W. HUGHES. 4 BODY BEST FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7, 1905 Patented May 4, 1909.

[NYE/ TUB 2mm U. Jdupeu WI THE-9858 rnr: NORRIS PEJEES co., WASHINGTON, o, c.

JAMES W. HUGHES, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY.

BODY-REST FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Application filed August 7, 1905. Serial No. 272,997.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES VI. HUGHES, of Camden, county of Camden, and State of New Jers y, have invented an Improvement in Body-Rests for Musical Instruments, of which the. following is a specfication.

Much difficulty has been experienced by musicians in the use of body rests for violins and the like. It is essential that such devices should enable the instrument to be held in proper position and with sufficient firmness without discomfort caused by friction or undue pressure upon the chin or shoulder. It is also desirable that such rests should be adaptable to instruments of different sizes and to the physical peculiarities of the musiclan.

lt is one of the objects of this invention to provid a chin rest for violins and the like, which may be easily adjusted to suit the size of the instrument, and which will be suited to n'actically all persons, and will adapt itself to d illeren es in the conformation of the chin, so that it may be used with perfect comfort and will insure the instrument being held firmly and in proper position.

My invention also includes improvements in the devices for applying the rest to the in strument and enabling it to adjust itself to the size and shape thereof.

view illustrating the rest applied to a violin; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the detached clamp; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the same; Fig. at is an inverted plan view of the baseplate of the rest, and Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section, enlarged, of the rest and clamp.

c is the base-plate of the rest, which is preferably of kidney shape and may be made of any suitable material. I have found aluminum excellently adapted for it.

On one side of the under surface of the base-plate is a rib a, to which the bracketpiece I) is secured by the angular flange 1).

The lower face of the plate a at one end is offset as at a to permit the plate, when attached to the violin, to extend over the tail piece as shown in Fig. 1. In the body of the plate a is an opening a", through which the padding, when used, is inserted, and this open ing is closed by a plate a which may be secured by small screws a.

The upper side of the plate a is provided with a projecting rim a along the edge, and this rim is wider or higher on the outer side as at a c is a pad of any suitable soft material, such as felt, along the inner side of the rim a d is a covering of silk or other suitable material, preferably composed of a top-piece stitched at its edge to a strip of ribbon d which is cemented or otherwise secured to the outer face of the rim c a e is a padding of swans down, or other soft material, filling the space between covering (Z and the base piece, which may be introduced through the opening a" before the plate a is applied. This padding may be omitted, in which case the opening a and plate o are unnecessary.

f a second bracket member having at its lowerend an angular llan and provided in the upper part with a longitudinal slot 1''.

is a pivot stud extending through the slot f and engaging a pivot hole 6 in the bracket member I). The pivot stud f has a head 9 on the inner end and the outer end, which projects through the pivot hole Z2 is threaded to receive a nut 9. Thus the pivot stud is held in place and the threaded nut y when tightened will clamp the bracket memhers I) and together. The object of thus g pivoting the bracket members together is to In the drawings: Figure 1 1s a perspective enable the clamping flanges l2 and f to adjust themselves to the non parallelism of the upper and lower faces of the instrument. The upper and lower faces of a violin are not perfectly parallel at the point where the clamp is applied and to secure a perfect clamping action with clamping flanges of substantial length the flanges must assume a non parallelism corresponding to that of the edge of the instrument. This is pcrmitted by the pivotal connection of the members I) and f, and when they have assumed the proper angular inclination or degree of non parallelism they are secured in that position by tightening the nut 9.

To enable the clamps to be moved to and from one another to engage the edge of the instrument and to be clamped thereon, the pivot stud is made movable longitudinally in the slot f For this purpose .l prefer to employ a vertical screw 7L journaled in the lower flange f of the bracket member fpassing through a threaded hole in the pivot stud f By turning this screw for which will be noted that the adjustment of the pivot stud f 3 to open or close the clamp does not affect the freedom of the clamping members to adjust themselves to the non parallelism of the edges of the instrument.

I have SllOW'll the lower bracket-memberf, provided with a lateral arm t. This is for the purpose of attaching a shoulder rest, and may be omitted when the shoulder rest is not employed.

The ledge a on the outer side of the rest forms a firm hold for the chin, the point of which will rest on the soft cushion-surface, while the under side of the chin will rest upon the soft padding strip 0. Both the cushion-surface and the padding strip 6 being soft will adapt themselves to the conformation of the chin, while the ledge a being rigid will insure a firm hold.

The offset 0 enables the rest to be placed nearly in line with the strings so that the instrument may be held in the proper position to secure the best execution.

A removable cap or cover 1 of cloth or other suitable material may be placed over the cushion (i to protect it from becoming soiled. This may be removed and washed.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A chin rest for musical instruments, consisting of an upper cushioned chin rest portion having a clamp member adapted to rest on the upper face of the instrument, a flanged clamp member adapted to fit under the lower face of the instrument, a pivotal connection between said clamp members to permit their clamping faces to adjust themselves to the non parallelism of the upper and lower faces of the instrument, and means to secure said clamps in adjusted position.

2. A chin rest for musical instruments, consisting of an upper cushioned chin rest carrying a bracket member 1) adapted to be clamped on the upper face of the instrument, the vertically slotted bracket member f having a flange adapted to be clamped on the lower face of the instrument, and a pivot stud extending through the slot in said member f and engaging the other member.

3. A chin rest for musical instruments, consisting of an upper cushioned rest carrying a bracket member adapted to be clamped on the upper face of the instrument, a second bracket member having a flange adapted to be clamped on the lower face of the instrument, one of said bracket members being slotted longitudinally, and a pivot stud extending through the slot of said slotted member and engaging the other member.

4. A chin rest for musical instruments, consisting of an upper cushioned rest carry ing a bracket member adapted to be clamped on the upper face of the instrument, a second bracket member having a flange adapted to be clamped on the lower face of the instru ment, one of said bracket members being slotted longitudinally, and a pivot stud extending through the slot of said slotted member and engaging the other member, and means to adjust said pivot stud longitudinally in said slot to adjust the bracket members.

In testimony of which invention, 1 hereunto set my hand.

JAMES W. HUGHES.

Witnesses EDWARD H. MAURER, R. M. KELLY. 

